Continuing my review of the Wild Goose Chase, chapter 2 is about “Coming out of the Cage of Responsibility”, which is the first of the 6 cages that Batterson finds getting in the way of our living the spiritual adventure that God has called us to.
Here are the quotes I found most inspiring in this chapter:
- I want to die doing what I love […] determined to pursue God-ordained passions until the day I die. Life is too precious to settle for anything less.
- We start dying when we have nothing to live for. And we don’t really start living until we find something worth dying for.
- Key life mistake: we start out pursuing a passion and end up settling for a paycheck.
- When our responsibilities become excuses they become a form of irresponsibility […] becoming the cage that keeps us from chasing the Wild Goose.
- Only way out of the cage is through responsible irresponsibility.
- The chase will often lead you down a path you feel unqualified for. Consider:
- Nehemiah – a cupbearer called by God to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem
- Noah – a farmer told by God to build an ark
- David – a shepherd brave enough to stand up to a Philistine giant
- Paul (Saul) – a murderer and persecutor of the early church became so passionate he ended up writing half of the New Testament.
- When God puts a passion in your heart, you have a choice to make. Are you going to be irresponsibly responsible or responsibly irresponsible?
- One of the greatest obstacles maybe your responsibility as a husband and father.
- The will of God is difficult to discern because it often involves making a decision that seems irresponsible.
- Pursuing a God-ordained passion, no matter how crazy it seems, is the most responsible thing you can do.
- What makes you cry or pound your fist on the table? What makes you smile? To find your God-ortained passions, you need to find the answers to these questions. It is what turns your career into a calling.
- I would rather fail at something I love than succeed at something I don’t enjoy.
- Our growing responsibilities have numbed us to the possibilities around us and the passions within us.
- Prayer makes us spiritually fertile. And the more we pray, the more passionate we become.
- But at some point, you need to quit praying and start acting.
- I want to see God do things in me and through me that I am absolutely incapable of so I can’t possibly take credit for them.
- Before God will expand our influence or help us figure out how to get to where we want to be, we need to be faithful in the little things and the situations we are in. Like Nehemiah, sometimes we just need to be the best cupbearer you can be and wait on God. Don’t whine. Don’t complain. And don’t check out. Make the most of the situation.
- The Wild Goose Chase doesn’t take short cuts. He loves leading us down the scenic route because that is where we learn our most valuable lessons.
- You don’t need wealth or position or power to make a difference. You just need to do the best you can with what you have where you are. And if you are faithful in Babylon, God will bless you in Jerusalem.